While waiting in line to pick my 1.5 year old Italian Greyhound, Teagan, up from a stay at the kennel I spotted this silly looking bird on the shelf of the gift shop. I am always on the look out for stuffed dog toys that look indestructible – or close to it. This dog toy hasn’t quite met the indestructible standard but after a few repairs it has remained one of Teagan’s favorite toys in the toy box.
Physical Attributes

The toy, made by MultiPet International, is a goofy looking pink flamingo. The flamingo is from the Bird Brains series, and this one is named Shelly Flamingo. It is 17 inches tall by 5 inches wide. The two long legs are made of a heavy duty twisted rope (similar to your standard dog’s rope toy) with grey stuffed feet at the end. It has an oval stuffed pink body with two wings on the back and a large floppy tail coming out of the butt. Who knew flamingos had tails? The flamingo’s head sits atop a long floppy neck and sports two round plush eyes, hairy pink eyelashes, a silly string smile, and a long gray snout. The head and beak make the toy quite top heavy and it does not support itself on the floppy neck. A standard squeaker resides in the birds belly.

Wear and Tear

My dog is an 11 pound Italian Greyhound who stands about 15 inches tall at the shoulder. While she loves to play and eviscerate plush dog toys she doesn’t have anywhere near the jaw strength of your typical lab or retriever. Even so, in the first two months she did manage to tear the toy at the seam and pull some stuffing out. I quickly sewed it back together and we have not shed any more stuffed blood. I would imagine a larger dog would be able to pull this pet toy apart pretty quickly.

A plus for the wear and tear department are the rope legs on the flamingo. The legs are actually one long rope toy sewn into the flamingo’s body. I imagine when this toy reaches the end of its life we will still be able to play with the legs as a standalone toy.
Fun Factor

Teagan holding on to the toy.

If I had to guess I would say this is one of Teagan’s favorite toys. She really enjoys playing tug with toys and the rope legs allow us to use this toy as one of the victims in the game. Also, like most dogs she enjoys shaking her toys violently and it seems it is even more fun when she can hit herself in the head with the toy. Maybe they think the toy is hitting back? The long floppy neck of the flamingo really fits the bill for the “hit myself in the head” game.

The built in stomach squeaker is an added bonus. Most dogs like to find the squeaker in a toy and bite it repeatedly until there is no squeak left.

Safety Factor

I would rate this toy high for safety. Some of the toys I have purchased have plastic eyes that can be chewed off the toy and present a choking hazard. On this flamingo the eyes are plush. Also the string mouth is embroided onto the birds face so it can not be picked off and swallowed. The only thing that could be dangerous on this toy are the hairy eyelashes. Dogs seem to love to pull any hairy pieces off of toys and I fear that if swallowed they could become stuck in the dogs throat. Fortunately, my dog has not managed to tear these eyelashes from the poor birds eyes.

Conclusion

Multipet has clearly done their research about what dogs like in a stuffed dog toy. This toy is a lot of fun and poses minimal safety risks. It is not the most indestructible stuffed toy out there and may be better for smaller dogs and puppies. I paid about $10 for the toy, which I think is a little cheap. I would probably only buy another one if I could find it on sale.